


Looking Towards the Future

by SereneVellichor



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Action/Adventure, How Do I Tag, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 08:11:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13185966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SereneVellichor/pseuds/SereneVellichor
Summary: Locus has joined the gang after the events with the blues and reds, but not everyone is as eager to have him on board. While the BC crew has warmed up to him, the citizens of Chorus have not. And while Washington is still out of commission, Chorus becomes their problem once again.





	1. Chapter 1

It was no surprise that Grif hated the canyon from day one. He was sure to make it abundantly clear that this station was not what he expected and was, in fact, much worse. For years he drove his new teammates up the goddamn wall with his attitude, and honestly it was the funniest fucking thing he had ever seen. But that was then. Now, not only was he closer with his teammates, but they seemed to have an uncanny ability to become friends with every enemy they had. 

First it was blue team, who actually turned out to have some pretty decent people on it, then it was a handful of freelancers who kept bouncing in and out of their lives, and finally it ended with a mercenary that almost committed genocide who was now following the group along like a lost puppy. Y’know, a puppy that could kill a man with his bare paws. Hands? Whatever. It seemed to Grif that their new pal hoped that by understanding the strange chemistry the group had, he could somehow make up for aforementioned genocide. 

“Grif.”

The mercenary was the most interesting of the group by far. Like, Church had this whole ‘I’m not human’ shit going on, but this dude was this a creepy badass who betrayed his somehow even creepier partner in order to save their lives. It made no sense whatsoever and Grif was living for it.

“Grif.”

The guy even saved Wash from a bullet wound by taking him to a hospital. Wash! His former rival! Honestly the emotional rollercoaster was-

“Grif.” Grif was forcibly turned around from his position in a spinny chair at his desk and looked up to see the man he was just analyzing. Locus looked down at him with an unimpressed look, complete with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.

“Oh. Fuck. Sorry man, I was...I don’t even know. What’s up?” Locus huffed and ran a hand through the loose hair at the top of his ponytail. 

“The others are requesting your presence at the meeting room.” Grif raised an eyebrow.

“Why do they need me? More importantly: why did they send you as their errand boy?” Locus, ironically enough, shrugged and leaned against the wall adjacent to them.

“I don’t blame them for giving me busy work, no one else around here seems to do any.” Without his armor on, Locus’s voice was much lighter and less intimidating, especially since you could pair the words to the face. The guy rolled his eyes a lot more than you might think. “It was...Simon? Your boyfriend? He sent for you.” Grif rolled his eyes.

“He’s not my boyfriend, and it’s not Simon, it’s Simmons.” He stretched his arms out in front of him and slowly stood up. “There is...no chance you could... carry me, is there?” In response Locus just simply walked out of the room. Grif narrowed his eyes but bit his tongue and followed him with his pistol tapping annoyingly against his leg, making him walk slower and a bit more awkwardly. Locus had no such issue since Kimball made it excruciatingly clear that he was not to be within five feet of a gun at any time. She was not the biggest fan of their new buddy, to put it lightly. 

Since Wash was still out cold when they got back, it was up to Carolina to convince Kimball that Locus was turning over a new leaf. At first, Kimball thought she was kidding. After all, this was a man that a few weeks earlier was attempting to put everyone on the planet six feet under. Carolina was determined to give him a second chance, however. She claimed afterward that she was exhausted with murdering everyone who crossed them. To be honest, Grif was too. Death was not exactly a stranger to their little gang, and if letting Locus join meant he wouldn’t have to put a bullet between his eyes, then he was all for it.

Consumed by his thoughts, Grif swore loudly when they stepped outside. He was missing his armor, so the cold Chorus air was biting at his exposed arms as he shuffled after Locus. It was Carolina’s idea to stay in Chorus until Wash could walk again without assistance, and of course some random person was assigned with finding places for them to sleep. Instead of handing that problem off to Kimball, who would have undoubtedly given them a comfy place to lay their head, the guy treated them like common folk and scattered them all around the base. Grif ended up relatively close to Simmons’ room, which was good for late night hangouts, but ended up the furthest from the city center. He was almost a half mile away from the nearest kitchen and it already caused him to lose three pounds just from all the extra exercise he got walking back and forth all the time. Though, Grif realizes he probably shouldn’t complain too much, at least not around Locus. The guy had to sleep with guards outside his door and had to be given actual written permission to go anywhere, like he was a high schooler or something. No way would Grif be given permission to hit the kitchen as much as he already did

Locus, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by the cold and took quick confident steps towards the meeting hall, located a floor below Kimball’s office. People gave him nasty looks, and guards tensed as they passed, a few even placing their fingers on the trigger just in case. Grif didn’t exactly feel sorry for the guy, but he didn’t enjoy the extra attention he brought whenever they walked together, so he flipped off one particularly nasty stare from a woman who was carrying a pistol.

If Locus minded the stares he didn’t say so. He simply kept looking straight ahead, determined to ignore any and all slurs yelled at him. Thankfully no one was racist, but people were clever enough to form daggers with their words, and even Grif thought a few people were going a bit too far. Felix did most of the killing statistically speaking, and from what Grif saw Locus killed less than a dozen people. Of course, that doesn’t make anything he did okay or even borderline acceptable, but Grif thought that the mental torture he must be going through would be enough even without the added words.

The wind howled brutally against Grif’s arms. His regulation t-shirt that he managed to get in orange was doing little to keep the cold out. Goosebumps raised up and down his arms and he was just about to ask Locus if he had a jacket he could borrow when they passed one man who was staring coldly at them, and shaking his head slowly. Grif attempted to ignore the man but he soon heard crunching behind them and looked to see that the man had started following them. Grif frowned but looked forward, hoping that this dude wouldn’t start anything. The crunching of the snow became louder and quicker and without any warning the man grabbed Grif’s arm, spun him around, and punched him square in the face. 

It knocked the wind out of Grif, and placed him straight onto his ass in the foot of accumulating snow, and he could’ve sworn he felt the cold in his bones.

“Are you kidding me? Are you KIDDING ME? You assholes have the nerve to bring back the very man who killed so many of our families? Our CHILDREN? Do you have no regret at all? No morals?” The man was standing above him, his yelling getting increasingly louder with every sentence. Grif barely noticed the man was raising his foot in time, and rolled away just as the foot stomped where he used to lay, no doubt intended to break his ribs. 

He ended up on his back, and was braced himself for a kick that never came. When he realized the shouting had stopped he quickly rolled over and saw that the man was being slid up the wall of a building by Locus, who had lifted him nearly a foot off the ground by his neck with one hand alone. 

“Morals? These people risked their lives to save you. They did nothing to deserve your wrath-”

“LOCUS!” A scream cut across the air and Grif realized how silent the street had gotten. “Release him at once!” It was Kimball, who undoubtedly saw everything unfold from her office a few stories above where Grif lay. Locus stared the man down for a few seconds more before pulling his arm back and letting him drop to the ground. As the adrenaline wore off Grif could feel a small line of blood drip down his nose, and when he put his hand to it and pulled away he saw there was more than just a little blood. In fact, he realized he was more than just a little lightheaded too. 

Kimball had stopped a few feet away from them, and was shaking with anger. “I cannot believe you would assault someone! After everything it took to convince me to let you stay!” 

Locus exhaled sharply. “Assault? That man attacked one of your soldiers. He needed to know that would not go unpunished.”

“That was not up to you!” Almost as if seeing Grif for the first time her eyes widened. “Grif? Are you alright?” 

“Super duper.” He groaned and slowly stood up, holding one hand to keep the blood from gushing out of his nose, making his voice sound nasally. “Next time, you should send out a memo to the people here that punching their saviors isn’t very friendly.” Kimball shook her head and stepped closer. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone would take their anger out on you.” She sighed. Locus snorted and cast a look at their assailant who was being lifted to his feet by another citizen who in turn noticed his staring and glared at Locus. “Listen, he will be dealt with, but you cannot attack people like that Locus!” She switched from a gentle look to a hard glare. “If you want people to trust you again you cannot throw them against walls!” 

“He was attacking Grif!” 

“And throwing him off would’ve achieved the same effect!” Kimball shook her head. “Enough. Later.” She looked at both of them and sighed again. “We have a meeting to go to.” Grif tilted his head back a bit as they walked towards the lobby of Kimball’s office, following the small band of soldiers who served as their escort. Locus and Grif shared a look, and Grif gave him a slight nod as to thank him for saving his life. Locus in return gave him a defeated half-smile and opened his mouth to speak.

“Monster sympathizer!” Came a loud yell from behind them. “Freakish monster sympathizers!” It was the same man who attacked Grif. Locus shut his mouth and looked at the ground, and they did not slow until they reached the door. Once inside an guard called the elevator down. As they waited Grif looked back, blood leaking out from his hand, and saw that outside the glass windows more than a dozen citizens were starting right at him. It creeped the shit outta him. 

He cast a look at Locus, but the man would not meet his eyes. Locus was not one to feel sorry for himself, Grif could tell, but at that moment Grif had never seen a sadder man in all of existence. He felt anger coursing through him, similar to how he felt when Kai was bullied as a child. Locus wasn’t his friend, and hell Grif wasn’t even sure if he could fully trust him, but the pain he saw in his eyes made him want to run outside and scream at the growing group of people to leave him the hell alone. 

Grif felt something tickle his throat and coughed, which only seemed to make whatever it was burn more. He tasted metal and realized some of the blood from his nose has dripped down his throat like a bad cold. He shuddered at the sight of a few specks of blood that had landed on the pristine white tiles. Locus noticed this as well, and stepped forward as if to help Grif, but at that moment the elevator slid open and Kimball called them inside. A guard noticed the blood and sighed, motioning over a janitor, muttering something about how many blood stains existed in this god forsaken colony. As they all settled on the elevator Kimball seemed to finally notice Grif’s bleeding and wordlessly typed onto a small tablet she was carrying. When the ride to the meeting room floor was finished, there was already a very chiper Dr. Grey waiting for him. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Kimball will fill us in on all the details!” She said in a singsong voice as she guided Grif to a seat along the wall where a first aid kit was already opened. She completely ignored Locus who seemed unsure of what to do as she sat down. She unrolled some bandages and took out a bottle meant for spraying the inside of a nose. “Now, this is going to sting!” She smiled and without warning grabbed the back of Grif’s head, moving him forward and sprayed whatever substance it was up his bleeding nostril. 

“Holy mother of-” 

“No swearing in the meeting room please!” She smiled again and placed the bottle back in the kit after wiping it with a disinfect cloth. Grif coughed a bit and frowned. He could still taste metal, but the dripping down his throat seemed over with and the gushing did as well. A modern fucking miracle. Grey snapped shut her medkit and looked him up and down. “There you go! Any other questions?” 

“Uhm, no. Thanks doc.” Grif awkwardly spat out, and she grinned, showing her pearly white teeth. 

“No problem! Now! We have a meeting to attend to boys.” She stood up and finally glanced at Locus, quickly moving her gaze away as she walked to the meeting hall, not waiting for either of them. Grif sighed and stood up, groaning when he heard the sloshing noise his shoes made when he did so. Locus frowned and paused for a second.

“What size are you?”

Grif coughed in surprise.

“Shoe size.” Locus corrected himself with a shake of his head.

“Uh...men’s tens?” Locus slowly nodded and within a second had taken both his shoes off, handing them to Grif. 

“Just leave your shoes outside.” Grif gave him a puzzled look.

“What about you?” Locus shrugged and wordlessly walked to the meeting hall and entered, completely and absolutely in only his socks.


	2. Yet Again

When Grif walked into the room no one looked up at him. Locus had found a nook to stand where he would go largely unnoticed, and it seemed to be working. Everyone was there - minus Wash - and were gathered around a makeshift table that Kimball had set up. Santa was displaying a small 3D map of the entire colony including the city and outposts that had been reclaimed and cleared out of any remaining pirates. 

“We need to do a supply run. The UNSC is still giving us the cold shoulder after the whole fiasco with your doppelgangers and every shipping company runs through them.” Kimball had bags under her eyes that Grif didn’t notice before. They didn’t suit her. “I know I hate to ask you to do anything else for my city after everything you have already done but...I’m on my last legs here.” 

Tucker had his legs up on the table, and he was sitting next to Carolina who had her elbows on the table and was gazing intensely at the map. A small red halo appeared over one of the alien towers, one that the scouting groups had reclaimed. According to Santa it was the Agriculture tower. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as cut and dry as using Tucker’s sword and boom: limitless food. All it did was make the ground more fertile and the seasons better for growing. Santa did mention there was a stockpile of dry goods however that Kimball estimated could last the city at least two more weeks. She figured that would be long enough to establish something with the UNSC at least.

“And what happens when the food runs out and the UNSC still won’t open up?” Sarge said, arms crossed. He was sitting directly across from Kimball on opposite ends of the table.

“Well, then we have to send a ship ourselves. Hopefully they can check with the nearest planet and strike up some sort of deal with them.”

“What would we be trading?” Carolina asks, finally looking up from the map.

“Well,” Kimball sighs. “We aren’t exactly rich, and giving them alien weapons isn’t exactly on my to-do list…” She fades off, clearly unable to think of an option.

“We could trade favors.” Tucker offered, but everyone ignored him. “No, seriously guys. We totally could!” 

“Son, what would a planet do with an I.O.U? Who would even trade for an I.O.U?” Sarge chuckled. “No, what we need is a bargaining chip in case all of this falls flat.”

“Yeah, that’s a big what if. Why would the UNSC leave a colony to die?” Simmons had one leg crossed over the other and had his head in his hands, and he looked really tired. Much more tired than when Grif had seen him last. It made Grif feel a bit uncomfortable. Simmons’s one blue eye right above a steel plate on his face was relaxed, but his real eye - the maroon one- had bags under it. He must not have been sleeping well, probably still taking in everything that had been happening to them. Everyone was. It was just so unfair that their little group had to hold the weight of the universe on their shoulders all the goddamn time.

“We should go get the food. In the meantime...maybe we can think of a plan.” Carolina sighed and stood up. “Santa, can you download the directions to the tower to my HUD?” 

“Certainly.” The bodiless voice bellowed.

“I don’t mean to offend anyone, but it would be a bigger hassle if we brought everyone.” Carolina said, securing her helmet on her head. The voice filter didn’t necessarily change her voice, but made it the tiniest bit more muffled that everyone’s helmets did. “We should bring just a few people for backup and labor. We can use the teleportation cubes to do all the heavy lifting.” She paused. “According to my HUD the journey shouldn’t take more than two days.” 

“Two days?” Tucker whined. Grif felt kinda bad for the guy. With Wash stuck in the medbay Tucker had been attached to Carolina’s hip, and he was wondering if it was of his own volition. More than likely Tucker gravitated to Carolina for the company, but now he was stuck helping her out with everything. That sucked.

“Yes. We should pack three days rations just in case, and head out at first light.” Carolina finished and looked at the group of people she had assembled. “Tucker, Caboose, and Sarge. You okay with coming with me?” 

“Oh my God! I get to go to another field!” Caboose was clearly on board.

“Sure. As long as someone makes sure to take my place and beat Grif daily while I’m gone.” No one stepped up to fill Sarge’s position and Grif just sighed.

“Ah fuck, why not. Not like there is anything to do in the city anyways.” Tucker groaned and stretched his arms when he stood.

“Good.” Carolina turned to everyone else. “If anyone can think of something to possibly trade while we’re gone, let Kimball know. Otherwise, take it easy.” her voice softened at the end, and Grif could hear the smile in her voice. 

“Uh, consider it done.” Grif grinned.

“Alright guys, dismissed.” Carolina sent off the gang with a wave of her hand and turned to discuss something with Kimball. Everyone else filed out pretty quickly. Grif could’ve sworn he heard Donut say something about a massage and the door closed behind them. Grif looked at Locus and saw the man looked pretty spaced out. Maybe he didn’t know what to do with himself? Grif bit the inside of his cheek and then realized that the tough mercenary probably didn’t want to leave the building alone. 

“Hey big guy,” Grif said, tilting his head. “Wanna head out the back entrance with me? I could use your help back at my room...Don’t take that the wrong way.” 

Locus shook his head but Grif could see he was concealing a smirk. “Yes, that would be good.” 

By the time the duo had made it back to Grif’s room they had both received enough dirty looks to last a lifetime. Grif was surprised the citizens were so angry at their colorful heros, but he could understand it. Afterall, he wouldn’t be exactly pleased if someone came and pranced around town with Temple either, or Hargrove for that matter. The sun was setting and both of the planets moons were slowly coming into view. The small LED light that was outside every door in the city seemed lonely stationed at Grif’s solitary bunk. His room was built like a bunk room for two, but it was placed far away from the others, snug in a corner next to a guard rail that overlooked the rest of the city. Technically he was directly over the kitchen, that is, if he felt like taking a nosedive. 

He held the door open for Locus and breathed a sigh of relief, taking off the wet shoes he’d had to put back on and immediately pulled on his Harvard sweatshirt that was draped against the bed. He guessed the cleaning staff had been through here due to the distinct smell of detergent coming from his hoodie.

Locus stood somewhat awkwardly next to the door, observing the room. Grif realized that other than when he first came to get him earlier today, Locus had never been in his room before. 

“So, uh, welcome. Me casa...your casa.” Locus blinked, and Grif sighed. “Make yourself at home.”

“Why do they even have a bunk room all the way out here?” Locus wondered, looking at the makeshift shelving Grif had begged Simmons to put up. It was covered in pictures that Grif had kept with him all these years, including one kept in a completely clear and plastic frame that Grif lifted from a shop a few months back. The picture in it was of him and Kai, with his arm around her while she stuck her tongue out. They were at his 10th birthday party, and Kai was 8 at the time. 

Grif shrugged. “Simmons guessed that these bunks were made when the rebels moved back into the city so they had somewhere to sleep.” He took a long breath. “And...He guessed that no one was coming back to it.” The mood in the room didn’t change despite the depressing topic and Locus moved his gaze from the pictures to Grif himself. 

“You said you needed my help with something?” 

“Oh! Um...I just didn’t want the others to think you were stalking me when you left.” he shrugged. “People are still iffy around you dude, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” Grif pulled his hair back into a ponytail, his crazy curls making him a bit too warm. “I just wanted to make sure you made it back okay. Your place is just around the corner, right?”

Locus sighed, “Yes.” He shook his head. “I should be getting back then.” He adjusted his shirt collar. Grif noticed a hickey on his neck and quickly looked away.

“Um, yeah. Thanks for uh, getting that guy off my back earlier, by the way.” Grif didn’t understand why the room was so awkward all of a sudden. Locus shook his head and left without another word, leaving Grif to stand in his room and felt like he didn’t know what to do with his hands. He pulled out his phone and sent Simmons a quick text asking if he could crash in his room tonight. He really needed to talk to his buddy right then.


	3. Chapter 3

Simmons texted back nearly immediately, the perfectionist that he was, and Grif was over at Simmons’ room in less than five minutes. He had slept in Simmons’ room so often there was an extra cot in there for just the occasion. When he opened the door he found his friend sitting at the built-in desk that all bunks had. Simmons had requested for a desktop to be placed in his room instead of the normal laptop everyone was given and ever since he’d been typing away at some program every chance he got.

Grif slung his little bag of essentials onto his regular cot and sat on the edge, watching Simmons work. He’d asked his friend before what he was trying to make but the explanation didn’t make anything any clearer. He glanced at his bag and opened it up, cracking open a can of what passed for soda nowadays and when Simmons raised his hand he tossed him one as well. It was a domestic feeling, and Grif felt his shoulders relax for the first time all day.

“Locus has a hickey on his neck,” Grif said and Simmons paused, turning around. 

“Really?”

“Really. Well, at least it looked like a hickey. Who do you think he’s banging?” Simmons shook his head. 

“I don’t think he’s banging anyone, Grif. Maybe he got it a while ago.”

“And it’s still there? No way. It looked fresh. Do you think it’s a dude?” 

“I don’t know, maybe. Odds are in the favor of it. Have you seen the people here? There is a 10:1 ratio of girls, easy.”   
“Only you would bring math into chicks, dude.” 

“Oh shut up. Who cares if he’s found someone man? It’s lonely here. I mean, he’s not exactly the worst person alive. He ditched Felix and helped us out.” Simmons had completely swiveled around in his chair and had put his feet up next to Grif’s. “And from what I heard earlier, he saved you as well. I really think he’s changed Grif.” Simmons set his drink down.

“I hope so man. I can’t handle any more massacres.” Grif shuddered and lay down on the cot, moving Simmons feet a little bit so they wouldn’t kick him.

“Do you think we’ll need to ask that other planet for supplies?” Simmons looked at Grif before reaching for his drink again. 

“Man I hope not. I don’t want to live here forever, and I know Kai sure as hell doesn’t. We miss our family back on Earth, man. Being the martyrs all the time...it isn’t my lifestyle. I sure as hell don’t want to see another one of us on some missing poster or-or us having another funeral.” Grif sighed deeply. “I’m just tired man.” Simmons hummed in agreement.

“Amen.” Grif knocked back the rest of his drink and attempted to toss it in a trash can a few feet away. It bounced off the lid and hit the ground with a clink. Grif looked at Simmons and raised an eyebrow. Simmons groaned and grabbed it before finally putting it in the trash. 

 

Later that night Grif was having trouble sleeping. Flashes of a raised boot kept bouncing in and out of his dreams. Most of the time Locus was there to knock the guy off, but occasionally he just watched, amused as the man beat Grif into a bloody mess. Grif wasn’t awarded the luxury of everything fading to black when the boot would come down on him. Rather, he heard and saw every little detail until he could recite it by heart. After the fourth time of being awoken by these nightmares, Grif stayed up for good. His phone told him it was 5 in the morning and Grif was kinda pissed off that a dumb dream was keeping him from getting his beauty sleep. 

Simmons was out cold on the cot next to him. They had pushed the cots together like they did everytime Grif slept over and Grif couldn’t get up without peeling Simmons’ arm off of him, so he was stuck here until he woke up. 

He browsed his phone and checked his messages. He had a few drunk texts from Kai about nothing noteworthy and one from Tucker asking him if he was alright. Grif assumed Tucker meant if Grif was alright after his near-death experience, given that the time stamp was hours ago. Typical Tucker, asking someone over text rather than asking them himself. 

Grif yawned and put his phone down on the bed beside him and placed his arm on his forehead, staring at the ceiling. He felt Simmons move a bit beside him but when Grif shifted his eyes to him the man had simply rolled over in his sleep, freeing Grif. He didn’t waste time before swinging his legs outta bed and walking to the bathroom that was connected to the bunk. There was no shower in it - a luxury that was unfortunately reserved to a locker-room style situation more towards the city center - so Grif settled for splashing water on his face. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and smiled a bit when he noticed that, like Locus, he now adorned a hickey on his neck. He pulled up his shirt collar a bit and made a mental note to use some makeup to cover it later, Sarge was yet to know about their relationship and he’d rather keep it that way.

“Grif?” A sleepy voice called from the main room as Grif reached for a towel. 

“In here dude.” He wiped the water from his face and took his hair out of its ponytail, letting it spill out past his shoulders. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just...tired.” Simmons yawned and soon Grif could hear snoring from the other room. He chuckled to himself and put the towel back, walking to his bag of stuff. No sense in waiting for Simmons to wake up, he wasn’t going to be up and at em’ for at least another hour. Grif carefully opened the door as not to wake Simmons and left the bunk room, nearly tripping on Simmons’ pants as he left.

The outside was grossly bright for being so early, and Grif could see one of the two moons still low in the sky. He glanced down at his stomach as it growled annoyingly loud and sighed. “Me too buddy, let’s see what we can scrounge up.” He adjusted the bag on his shoulder and started making his way into the city center.

The snow crunched underneath his feet and Grif was starting to regret not taking Simmons’ sweatshirt as the cold made its way underneath his Harvard hoodie. It was better than the walk yesterday, but not by much. He was just beginning to wonder what it would feel like if Simmons held him while they walked when he heard shouting up ahead. 

He snapped his head up. He couldn’t make out any familiar faces, but the unmistakable shape of a riot was just ahead of him. There were twenty, no... thirty people yelling and banging on the door to the mess hall. The group was composed of mostly men, but among the mess of people Grif could make out a few women and even a child screaming and hitting the door. There was no police presence to be found, and as Grif grew closer to the crowd he saw through the windows a very frantic looking Kimball and a very pissed off looking Carolina. 

He noticed a side door that no one was banging on and knocked on it a few times. When no one opened the door he called out. “Kimball? Carolina? It’s me, Grif.” Almost on cue, the door was thrown open and Grif was dragged inside.

“What the hell is going on here?” Grif rubbed the spot on his shoulder where he was grabbed.  
“Food riot. The supplies have run out faster than predicted, and now there isn’t enough to go around.” Kimball’s eyes were red, it was obvious that she had been crying. Carolina looked like she might explode. Grif also noticed a few people that had stayed in the mess hall, probably too afraid to walk outside right now. He was surprised to see that Locus was among them.

“These people need to realize that no amount of yelling will change how much food there is.” She clenched her jaw. Grif glanced over to his right where he saw that not only were people pacing around but a few upturned tables and boxes had thrown about. Kimball caught his gaze and sighed.

“The riot started in here. It was lucky Carolina and I were here when it happened, we had to push a lot of people out.” 

“Jesus…” Grif groaned. “What are we gonna do? Where are the others?” 

“We’re not sure.” Carolina started pacing. “But we need to calm them down out there or else people might get hurt.” 

“The only thing that could calm those people down would be food.” Kimball took a breath. “We need to get to the agriculture tower as soon as possible.” She looked Carolina in the eyes. “Would it be easier if you went alone?”

“Yes.” Grif shook his head.

“Now wait a minute. I’m usually all about us throwing ourselves at the fire for the good of others but...Jesus Christ, please don’t make me say it.” Grif ran a hand through his hair.

“Say what?” Carolina raised an eyebrow.

Grif opened his mouth to speak but before he could a deeper voice interrupted him.

“I’ll go with you.” The three of them looked up to see that Locus had silently walked over to them. Carolina slowly nodded. Kimball looked unconvinced.

“We’re not giving you a weapon.” Kimball stared Locus in the eyes.

“I don’t need one.” Locus crossed his arms. “Helping out is the least I can do to start making a difference for your people.” Carolina nodded more confidently. 

“Yeah, yeah this could work.” Carolina moved to pick up her helmet that she had placed on the table. Kimball moved to hold her arm. 

“Now wait a second. I know you guys trust him, but I don't. If something happened to you out there and no one was around to help…” 

“I’ll go too.” Grif sighed and crossed his arms. “I’d need to grab my armor, but that way Locus and Carolina wouldn’t be alone.” He looked at Locus and met his eyes. “I trust you dude, but I know Kimball would have a heart attack if something happened and...well man I don’t want anyone to blame you if something happens that you didn’t cause. I’d be just what we need if the people had another reason to hate you…”

Kimball looked surprised. “He’s...not wrong.” she nodded to herself. “Yes, it is settled. Grif, hurry back and go get your armor. I will page the others and tell them where you’re going.” Grif nodded and slowly turned to the door but Kimball caught his arm, letting go of Carolina’s. “Please, be safe. And hurry.”

Grif nodded and offered her a bright smile before slipping out of the mess hall door. Despite all the noise, he heard his stomach growl loudly and he felt a little cheated that he was volunteering himself and wouldn’t be getting free food for himself. ‘Well,’ he thought. ‘Maybe I can bring some back with me.’

He edged his way around the crowd without attracting too much attention and started the trek back to his bunk room. He could swear that the cold was settling in his body and would be there to stay.


	4. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Walking. That was what Grif’s existence had been reduced to. He stopped feeling his feet ages ago and run out of things to complain about before that. To his companion’s credit, they were becoming very good at ignoring him, so Grif had given up verbal complaints. Instead, he just groaned occasionally, especially if they were heading uphill which they happened to be doing at this very moment.

When they initially started out their journey they had a warthog and were making some pretty good progress, but when it broke down the gang was forced to continue on foot. Turning back wasn’t an option, not with riots still breaking out on the streets. To come back empty handed...well, it would be better for them to not come back at all.

It had started snowing a few minutes ago but it was falling fast and hard. No quite blizzard conditions, but enough that the visibility was kinda shit anyway. No snow accumulated on their armor for the heat melted it off, but Grif still felt cold. Yes, even with the armor’s life support systems checking and changing the interior temperature at any given moment. 

Carolina was standing in the front, Grif in the middle, and Locus taking up the back. Several times Carolina would hold up her hand to stop the rest of them, normally to warn them about a tree branch, but this time she put her hand down and sighed. 

“What is it?” Locus called, making his way to Grif’s side. 

“There is a gap on the path. Like someone cut straight through the mountain.” Carolina turned to face them. “So we can’t go straight ahead. Any ideas?”

“Yeah, just like, jump.” Grif laughed but no one else followed suit. “Wait no, don’t really do that.” Carolina had already turned back around and seemed to be mapping out the distance in her mind. 

“It’s possible. I could do it, easy.”

“Yeah, but uh, I don’t think I could.” Grif’s voice faltered a little bit in the false falsetto it did sometimes. Locus left his side to examine the gap as well. 

“I don’t think I could either.” Locus’ voice was low and before Grif could counter that Locus probably wouldn’t need special armor enhancements to make it, he continued. “If you want, you can go on ahead and we can find another way around. We may even find a shortcut. According to my map, there seems to be a small cave formation that we passed. It may have a natural uncharted opening that we have not recorded. If it does...it would lead straight to the tower.”

“Are you suggesting we split up?” Grif asked, a bit confused.

“Yes. We would get there faster if we did. Even if this cave turns out to be a pipe dream, Carolina will have made it to the tower much faster without us. Either way, it saves us time.” Locus looked back at Grif. “Would you mind coming with me to the caves?”

“Wait, you actually care what I think-?”

“Sounds good.” Carolina interrupted. She shook out her hands as if to shake out nerves and positioned herself for the jump. She turned her head to face them, calling over her shoulder: “But if you so much as give Grif a paper cut I will personally be sending the bullet through your head.” 

Locus scoffed. “I have no interest in hurting your soldiers.” 

“Just a friendly reminder.” She cracked her neck and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing…” She pushed her foot back into the snow and took a running leap. A huge flop of snow fell off the bank where she landed, leaving her much closer to the edge than anyone realized.

“Ah geez Carolina.” Grif sighed and he shook his head. Carolina turned around and Grif could swear he could see the grin behind her visor. She gave a two-fingered salute and started jogging up the path. 

Grif looked at Locus and shook his head. “Guess it’s just you and me bud, huh?” Locus slowly nodded.

“It seems that way, yes. The cave is this way.” Locus made a motion with his head and started walking, slowly enough that Grif was able to catch up and match his pace. Locus was nearly a full head taller than Grif and it was kinda funny to see the man look down at him whenever he spoke. Something that Grif realized as they walked was that Felix and Locus never looked at each other when they spoke, not really. Grif felt a sort of weird pride for their newest addition, like a parent who knows their kids’ macaroni art is crappy but the thought it what matters. He felt a sort of push in the back of his mind, a question he’d been meaning to ask for a while now.

“Does it feel weird? Walking around the city I mean.” Locus looked down at Grif but then back up at the path ahead of them. 

“A bit. I mostly feel...regret.” If he had more to say, he didn’t elaborate, but Grif got the picture pretty well. They kept walking for a few hundred more yards before Locus spoke again. “I, I cannot apologize enough for what I did to these people...for what I did to you and your friends. I know my words mean nothing but…” He couldn’t seem to think of how to finish his sentence. 

“It’s a start, bud. Starting is the hardest part.” Grif nodded at his own words. The wind started howling past them and the sky was slowly getting darker. “Is this the cave?” Grif looked at a small indent in the cliff ahead of them.

“Should be.” They both walked in sync to the mouth of the cave. There was a pause.

“You don’t think there would be bats in this cave, do you?” 

“No. The temperature would kill most species of bats. Besides, during my time on this planet, I visited most of the caves the planet has to offer. I have yet to see a single animal.” Locus started moving into the cave and Grif reluctantly followed, trying not to pester Locus with more questions about the indigenous bat species on the planet. He was just about to ask about snakes for Simmons’ sake when he felt the ground shake a bit. 

He looked to Locus at the same time the man looked back at him and another tremor shook the ground, this time much more violently. A loud noise, almost like a train started assaulting Grif’s ears.

“Get down!” he could barely hear Locus over the noise but felt himself be tackled to the ground by said man just as the snow started pouring over the mouth of the cave. Grif watched in horror as their entrance filled up with powder. He’d never seen so much snow in his entire life all moving at once. The noise was deafening and Grif put his hands over where his ears would be under his helmet. 

The ground was vibrating to such an intense degree that some of the icicles on the ceiling were falling off. A large one broke off and nearly cut Grif in half, landing just a few inches to his left.

“Go, go!” Locus shoved Grif forward and to his feet and the two men sprinted deeper into the cave. The lights on their helmets automatically turned on the deeper they got. Locus eventually grabbed Grif’s shoulder and pulled him closer to him and inside a small nook in the cave. Icicles and debris kept pouring down from the ceiling as the rumbling continued. Grif felt Locus’ arm push his head down between his knees and there they held for what seemed like ages.

Minutes passed. Grif swore he would throw up inside his helmet if this lasted much longer.

Then, almost all at once, the rumbling ceased. Neither man dared move for fear of triggering an aftershock. A full minute passed before Locus pulled his arm off of Grif’s head and both men looked up.

Their helmet lights illuminated the room around them. Dust was settling and some of the snowy powder had even made its way to their feet from all the way outside.   
“Are we....stuck here?” Grif’s voice trembled a bit as they both stood. Locus was carefully picking his way around debris until he made his way around the corner where Grif could hear him sigh. 

“I think so.” Grif made his way over to Locus and saw a near perfect wall of snow existed now where the rest of the save used to be.

“Aw man, fuck this.” Grif moved to take his helmet off but Locus held out a hand. 

“Don’t. The debris may have made the air hard to breathe.” With a groan Grif let his hand fall to his sides. 

“Should we try to find that other way out you mentioned?” Locus ignored him as he opened a small compartment on his wrist which revealed a small screen. The light illuminated Locus’ helmet as he typed quickly into it.

“Hello? Carolina?” Grif assumed he was trying to page her. There was no response. He sighed.

“Locus. What about the other way out?” Grif asked again. Locus simply turned around to face the other direction where they were met with a smooth cave wall.

“Either it never existed, or the opening is too small for either of us to fit through.” Both men stood in silence for a minute, contemplating their situation. 

“Carolina can’t hear us, can she.” It wasn’t a question.

Locus sighed. “I sent out a distress beacon that she will pick up on if she’s still able to come get us. If not, the city will most likely hear it and send someone. But, as you’re aware...it took us a day to get this far, so it would take them at least a day as well. That’s assuming the avalanche didn’t make the pass untraversable.”

“English dude.”

“We’re here for a few days, at least.” Locus shut the compartment on his arm and returned to the spot where he and Grif had been cowering mere moments ago. He sat down with his legs out in front of him. Grif sighed and joined him, sitting on his left side.

 

A few moments passed.

 

“When I was little, Kai and I used to go sledding. Constantly, all the time. Our mom would take us to the mainland all the time just for the occasion, usually in Washington state.” Grif smiled. “But, as she and I got older the charm wore off I guess.”

Grif didn’t intend for the story to keep going, but between the avalanche, losing friends, and missing home... Grif couldn’t stop spilling out his mind.

“She would skip family events and come home drunk out of her mind at four in the morning wearing someone else’s clothes. She smelled like drugs every time. Whenever she would come home like that I’d be the one that would have to haul her ass into the shower and help her out. Mom didn’t want anything to do with it.” 

“One of the times she was out she decided it would be a good idea to try and drive herself home.” He paused and took a long breath. “She hit someone, just a kid. It was dark and the kid - just ten years old, really - had been running away from home that night.”

“She totally freaked out, didn’t know what to do. The kid had died instantly and all she could think about was how much blood there was. She ran.”

“She didn’t get far, she ran into the woods and passed out. Cops found her with a bad concussion and she tested positive for all sorts of nasty drugs. She was a minor, so she didn’t serve jail time. Just a year of community service and forced rehab.”

“She was absolutely convinced no one would forgive her. She thought that despite the fact that it wasn’t really her behind the wheel everyone would hold a grudge forever and wanted her dead for killing some poor kid. She became super depressed. She’s on meds for it now, but it took ages for her to even do that much.” 

“People would scream at her on the street if you can believe it. She was stared at wherever she went. Mothers pulled their kids away from her sometimes as if they were worried she would kill them too.”

Grif sighed. 

“But she was wrong. People did forgive her. Even the parents of the kid she’d killed came around eventually. They felt no anger, just sadness, and mourning. They knew she regretted it with every fiber of her being, and they felt no reason to make it even worse for her.” 

Grif lazily turned his head to look at Locus who was staring straight ahead.

“My point is...these people...the citizens of Chorus, they hate you. They’re angry at you for the association. You gave orders that others followed and even followed some yourself. But...you regret it. I can tell. With every fiber of your being.” 

Locus turned to look at him.

“People will forgive you, Locus. They will come around to you like they did for Kai. Everyone always hated Felix more, anyway.” Grif gave a sad chuckle. “I know this was...not the best place for a pep talk. Didn’t really realize it would turn into one but...you should know dude. We’re on your side. All of us, all the Reds and Blues.” Grif looked forward.

The air was silent, Grif couldn’t even hear the wind outside anymore. He was worried that he made Locus upset honestly, and he was about to say something more when Locus spoke up.

“Sam.” 

Grif turned to look at him.

“Call me Sam.”


End file.
